Star of children’s TV series ‘Rainbow’ dies

FOR A generation of children, he will always be the long-suffering guardian of Zippy, George and Bungle, keeping the peace during their madcap adventures.

Geoffrey Hayes, who hosted the long-running children’s programme

Rainbow from 1974 to 1992, has died at the age of 76.

The actor and presenter played the adult character in more than 1,000 episodes of the show, which aired several nights a week to children across the UK.

Hayes, who struggled to find work after Rainbow was cancelled, also portrayed Detective Constable Scatliff in the BBC series Z Cars, and appeared on programmes including Never Mind

The Buzzcocks and Pointless Celebrities.

His manager, Phil Dale, said Hayes died from pneumonia in hospital with his wife, Sarah, and son, Tom, by his side. Mr Dale said: “The family would like to express their thanks to the many fans over the years as it always gave Geoffrey so much pleasure to know that he and his Rainbow team had given so much fun to TV and theatre audiences over the years.” In 2002, Hayes said the secret to the programme’s enduring popularity was that it was full of “magic, innocence and imagination”. He said: “Practically all the time people come up to me and it really breaks me up because they thank me for being part of their childhood. “It makes me want to cry sometimes.”